Darius Supreme

Gunner did not wish to bother to trade simple words with this group. None of them could match him in his base form, much less if he activated Earth's Guardian. Even Achilles, who was part of their convoy, could slaughter them all with ease.Â

Once one had enough power, the need for politics and fancy mind battles diminished. This also slowly lowered the intelligence and logical reasoning of those with power, which was why they often - to us, the weak - seemed to be doing foolish things.Â

Then again, Gunner did not like complex scenarios. He left them to Darius, who, no matter how powerful he got, would use his mind first in any situation.Â

"You are in the way of the Safemoon Army. Please clear out so that we may proceed."Â

For the half-giant to stay this polite to this group, he really had come far. Perhaps he felt there was no need to bully them, or becoming a father had softened his heart.Â

Whatever the case, he used a less brash method compared to when he had dealt with Fraterina.Â

Alas, this method was clearly not the best choice here, as the 12 Grandmasters' opposite ignored him. Longinus Clearsky, the black-robed Mage with the most arrogance on his face opened a grimoire and spoke coldly.Â

"We are here to represent the Fallon Continental Council. You are to cease your march towards the south of the continent henceforth, until your city's liege heeds our summon and his punishment gets decided for causing chaos across our continent."Â

Longinus' voice was deep and masculine, showing his well-mannered upbringing despite his expression, The Mage spoke neutrally, without sounding provocative, testimony that he was certainly a professional at this.Â

However, he was not speaking to Darius. He was speaking to Gunner.Â

The half-giant cocked his head to the side as if he was not sure that he had heard them correctly. The General's looked at his army that stretched out into the horizon, then back at the 12 puny Grandmasters before him who radiated confidence.Â

Instead of anything dramatic, Gunner sighed. He folded his arms and gazed at the 12 stoically, not really showing much interest anymore.Â

"I understand. Your organization is used to being at the top of the food chain, so you think that every power you come across can either be suppressed, tamed, or vanquished."Â

Gunner shrugged. "I subscribe to that as well, since I too have power."Â

Despite the situation, the 12 Grandmasters did not belittle Gunner nor ignore him. Rather, they had heard and even seen a lot through various means, otherwise a group of this size wouldn't have been dispatched for a single individual.Â

Gunner's eyes suddenly sharpened and the 12 felt an aura of danger surrounding them.Â

"Have any of you ever wondered what would happen if a power greater than yours appeared on the continent? What your precious council would to in such a scenario?"Â

To buttress this, Gunner stretched his hand out, using his Soldering Gauntlets to drag the psychic woman who was still focused on holding back the army's movement.Â

Her expression changed to shock and horror as she hurtled through the air towards Gunner's palm that acted as a magnet.Â

Somehow she could tell. No matter how powerful her mind, no matter how lovely her body or visage was, once she entered that cruel grip, she would die. It was a simple fact that she came to appreciate the closer she came towards Gunner's paws.Â

The others cried out, beginning to make various moves, but they were too slow to stop what was about to happen. That was, except for 3 specific blokes among the 12 who empathized speed over power.Â

Clive Barton, the Sharpshooter, quickly fired a string of arrows that blasted through the air even faster than Ophelia Evercrest, aiming to disrupt Gunner's flow.Â

Aside from him, Illisun Horun, the floating Wind Elemental, also moved forward so quickly that he left a trail of green light. It seemed like he would enter Ophelia's path before she reached Gunner and save her in time.Â

Shockingly, the fastest of them all was Cairo Keen, who appeared in front of Gunner directly, striking out with his blueish-golden lance, aiming for the large lad's throat.Â

All of this happened faster than the other Grandmasters could react, yet the entire scenario was resolved even faster. The arrows Clive had fired struck the Branded Servant and fell to the side uselessly.Â

The sharp spear point left a shallow white mark on the half-giant's throat before being deflected elsewhere. Illisun managed to catch Ophelia in time, making the two sigh with relief, but their expression changed when Gunner simply switched his target to the Wind Elemental, dragging both him and the psychic woman over.Â

While Clive could only watch from his vantage in shock, Gunner's left hand struck out like a snake, capturing the throat of Cairo Keen, exerting so much pressure that the fellow foolishly dropped his lance and tried to struggle for air.Â

Illisun and Ophelia soon joined on the other hand, both of them being held in this vice grip that was tougher to break through than saying one would lift half of the entire continent themselves.Â

In a span of 5 seconds, Gunner had captured and held in his hands, the lives of three expert Grandmasters from the council. The remaining members were rightfully dumbfounded, and in more ways than one.Â

He didn't even look at his captured quarry, rather gazing right into the eyes of those who were still reacting even now, whether it was roaring in anger or trying to cast some spell.Â

"What did I tell you? If someone is stronger than you can handle, how do you plan to deal with them?" Gunner asked coldly.Â

He tossed the three in his hands back over to the other 9, shocking them so much that they stopped what they were doing and caught them. After making sure they were fine, just a little bruised due to the scuffle, they glared at Gunner.Â

"You are Grandmasters, so you should be smart enough to understand what to do next. Leave here and never step before my army again. Also, tell your compatriots that the next group that dares to do so will be treated as our mortal enemies." Gunner stated finally, ignoring their resentment.Â

He felt that he had done more than enough this time. After all, Gunner may not be much of a schemer, but he also wasn't entirely sure that Darius wanted the Continental Council as an enemy yet.Â

While Darius has given him unlimited free reign to do anything and use any methods he wanted, Gunner would rather execute things as if Darius were here, which should satisfy his master the most.Â

"I will ask one question. Does Safemoon intend to go against the Fallon Continental Council?" Longinus asked coldly, still staring into his magic book.Â

Gunner frowned, wondering why his words, which were in the same language as was being spoken, were being treated like gibberish. Were those fools' ears just there for decoration?Â

Clive Barton scratched his messy hair and sighed. "Here we go again'¦"Â

Cairo stretched his hand out, and his lance flew back into his grip. The way he looked at Gunner now was full of wariness. Left to him, they would leave this area and never get in this guy's way again.Â

No matter how menacing Gunner looked, or how potent his words you wouldn't under the depths of his danger, his power, and his cruelty until you clashed with him.Â

Cairo keenly understood - heh - that he was likely one of the lucky few in reality that got to clash with his half-giant and survive afterward. It was so rare that he should grant himself a trophy for it, so despite his usual battle lust, he did not even raise his spear to attack.Â

Rather, his body was poised to run the moment things turned bad. Funny enough, unbeknownst to the others, Ophelia and Illisun adopted similar mindsets and stances.Â

Anyone who had managed to advance to Grandmaster stage would treasure their existence greatly. When the odds were in their favor, they would fight, but if there was danger, they would never engage.Â

"Hmph, why all the talk? You were all blindsided by his strength, but he is nothing before the almighty Dragovich!" The giant man with long black hair roared, his lips parting into a wide grin.Â

He was the Zilch Berserker, and one who could rip any man he grasped from limb to limb. He had seen Gunner's application of strength and was impressed, but he naturally felt like he could easily beat something like that.Â

As such, he stretched his arms out wide and charged over, his steps thundering the earth like an elephant stomping about. Seeing his power, the others had some confidence in this charge.Â

Gunner himself smirked and unfurled his arms, cocking his right one back slowly. He timed the release of his punch to match with the one from the fellow rushing at him.Â

He did not use Earth's Guardian nor did he use any skill like Earthen Punch, but when the fists collided, one of them got blown into sprays of fine blood, gone forever.Â